Get ready...this one's a rambler.
This past Saturday Laura, India and I decided on a quick trip up to London for the day. Coming from Brighton it's quite easy to hop on the one hour train up to Victoria Station. If you're going to be in England for a while it's worth it to invest in a 16-25 Rail card, which you can buy at any train station. The card takes off 30% on all rail journeys as well as day travel cards in London.
We thought we'd be smart and purchase our train tickets for a 7am departure, and a 9:30pm return. That way we'd get the entire day in London spending only 18 pounds on rail and underground transport total. And I have to say that even though I was extremely tired in the morn - and listening to the sounds of my flatmates returning from clubs whilst I was waking up - it was actually a wonderful choice. Because London is busy, especially Saturday afternoons and evenings. Having the morning there gave us the opportunity to visit some splendid sights with less people. And use India's selfie stick without as much judgement.
Given that Laura and I have done London before, and India was down for anything, we didn't do most of the tourist-y things. If it's your first trip, though, I 100% recommend Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Tower of London, Big Ben photos, Trafalgar Square, Kew Gardens, and any of the parks.
We hit up both Green Park and Buckingham Palace as well as Big Ben and London Eye photos before 9am. One of the guards was taking a casual stroll through the gardens on our walk, but we were a bit too scared to ask for a photo.
By then we were starving, so we hopped on the metro to Camden Market where we failed to even make it to the markets before brekkers at a local pub. It was a decent meal, but we should've waited until arriving at the market itself. There were dozens of food stalls selling everything from churros to falafels to Spanish Hot Chocolate (which had no noticeable different to normal hot chocolate but still tasted delicious). The market itself was right in the midst of alley ways that seemed hundreds of years old.
At that point we hopped back on the metro and headed to King Cross Station where some Brits have kindly set up shop and set up Platform 9 3/4s for some photos. Fun fact - there is only one Hufflepuff scarf that rarely gets washed because it's only worn 20 times a day. Contrast that to Gryffindor, which over 700 people pick in a day. JK Rowling definitely did not bias this population with her works.
It wasn't even lunch time at that point so we took a wander down Oxford Street - the Topshops were as numerous as the Starbucks are back in America. And then a wander through Hyde Park where we got scared by birds. We ended up across the street from Harrod's a fancy cafe that we didn't belong at. But the caramel muffin and tea was top-notch. And I'd like to think I was saving my stomach for dinner.
I visited some friends from back home at St. Paul's Cathedral before we made our way back to their apartment and then off to dinner in Covent Gardens. Dinner was at one of the best, most authentic little hole in the wall Italian places I've ever been to. It was even better than Olive Garden (which isn't even really Italian anyhow but I like it so no judgements here). I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place. Ades and I split both a pizza and a pasta.
Making it back took some almost running on our part and a quick stop off for some candy. And we were home by 10:30pm.
So there you have it. London in a day. I love love love London, but coming back to Brighton has to be the nicest thing of them all.
Until next time.
